Huntington Ravine is still under a General Avalanche Advisory. A General Advisory is issued when instabilities are isolated within the entire forecast area. However it's important to realize that avalanche activity may occur within these locations before the issuance of a 5-scale forecast. This is a critical fact to remember. Under a General Advisory you need to make your own avalanche stability assessments before venturing into any open slopes.

After a long discussion about rating areas at the upper end of Moderate or the lower end of Considerable, we opted for the latter based on the potential for more upslope snow today. In the past 24 hours we have received another 2" (5 cm) of light density new snow at Hermit Lake and the Summit. The winds have been a big factor in keeping things at the Considerable rating as they have been out of the W and WNW at ideal loading speeds. With the possibility of a couple more inches of new snow today paired with WNW winds loading it into the ravines, we could see potential for natural activity. Field observations yesterday found a polished crust about 0.4" (1 cm) thick from Monday's mixed precipitation. This is providing a challenging surface for new snow to bond to making a nice bed surface.

We have been at an elevated avalanche danger for several days in response to stability issues on existing bed surfaces. It is worth pointing out that bed surfaces in our forecast areas vary in size. The Bowl and Lip do not have the potential for large areas of instability rather large pockets of unstable snow. Left Gully and the southern side of Tuckerman currently have the largest avalanche paths. These areas can and have produced avalanches that are much larger than other areas could dream of producing under their current snow cover. As we have been mentioning areas that have had no snow are slowly building up bed surfaces. These areas are the ones covered under a General Advisory right now and it is important to realize that avalanches can still occur in these locations.

The weather is taking a turn for the better with much colder air in place and it is expected to stick around for a while. Be prepared for temperatures below 0 F and high winds if you plan on heading up above treeline. We are starting to keep an eye on a system that may bring us some snow Sunday night into Monday. We will keep you posted.